Writing
for WorldNetDaily, Bob Unruh reports a refreshing story of how individual
sovereign states are beginning to push back against federal overreach.
Unruh writes, “State and local officials in surging numbers are
telling Washington they simply won’t cooperate with any plans
to detain Americans the federal government may choose to describe as
‘belligerents.’

“The
issue centers on provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act
of 2012, signed by President Obama, for the indefinite and rights-free
detention of those Washington cites as belligerents, whether American
citizens or not.

“WND
reported when Rep. Daniel P. Gordon Jr. immediately drafted a resolution
in the Rhode Island legislature to express opposition to the sections
of the NDAA ‘that suspend habeas corpus and civil liberties.’

“Now
the Tenth Amendment Center confirms that the resistance to the federal
bureaucracy is catching on.”

Unruh
continues, “‘Sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center
say as many as 10 states will consider legislation or resolutions in
response to the detention provisions in section 1021 and 1022 of the
NDAA,’ the organization is reporting. ‘Lawmakers in Rhode
Island and Washington will likely introduce resolutions authored by
the Rhode Island Liberty Coalition within the next week. Additionally,
local governments, including Fremont County, Colo. and El Paso County,
Colo., have passed resolution condemning the detention provisions.’

“‘It’s
going to take “We the People” in our states to stand up
and say, “No!” to this unconstitutional monster,’
he said.”

Unruh
goes on to report, “Already, Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, R-Manassas,
has introduced HB 1160, which would prevent ‘any agency, political
subdivision, employee, or member of the military of Virginia from assisting
an agency or the armed forces of the United States in the investigation,
prosecution, or detainment of a United States citizen in violation of
the Constitution of Virginia.’”

“Mike
Maharrey, communications director for the TAC, said the fight is shaping
up like the conflict in the 1850s when northern states refused to cooperated
with fugitive slave laws that required them to capture and return escaping
slaves.

“‘It
is clear to me, and I am far from alone in this view, that the detention
provisions in the NDAA are vague, overbroad and open to interpretation,’
he said. ‘That leaves me to trust in the good character and moral
clarity of Barack Obama, Rick Santorum or whoever happens to reside
at the White House, to protect me and my fellow Americans from abuse
of his power. No thanks.’

“Maharrey
noted that during the latter days of slavery, ‘state and local
governments in northern states stepped in and thwarted the enforcement
of the Fugitive Slave Acts, which allowed the federal government to
arrest and detain black people, and send them back into slavery with
little or no due process.

“‘We
laud these men and women as heroes,’ he said. ‘I have no
doubt that history will prove equally kind to those standing up for
the most basic rights of Americans today.’”

As
I have said repeatedly in this column, the only hope for the preservation
of liberty and freedom in America is for individual sovereign states
to do what they were created to do: protect the rights and liberties
of the citizens of their states from the overreach and despotic propensities
of those miscreants in Washington, D.C. If freedom-loving people in
the body politic truly intend to see to it that their rights and liberties
are preserved, they will pay much more attention--and be much more attuned--to
electing State governors, legislators, attorney generals, etc., than
they are electing US congressmen, senators, and even electing the President.

With
the exception of Ron Paul, there is not a major party Presidential candidate
who will make a dime’s worth of difference in protecting the liberties
and freedoms of the American citizenry. Both Republicans and Democrats
in Washington, D.C., are all about empire-building, foreign interventionism,
and expanding the Welfare and Warfare states. Furthermore, none of them
(with the exception of Ron Paul) would do anything to thwart or reverse
the burgeoning police state that is currently being rapidly constructed
in this country. That means, as Michael Boldin said, “It’s
going to take ‘We the People’ in our states to stand up
and say, ‘No!’”

And
quite frankly, that’s about the only thing that the power-elite
in Washington, D.C., are worried about. They aren’t worried about
Afghanistan, Iraq, or Iran. Those are all orchestrated conflicts to
keep our troops fighting endless wars, to have an excuse to print more
and more fiat currency, to satisfy the international bankers who are
making trillions of dollars off the military-industrial complex, and
to give them an excuse of “national security” in order to
strip away more and more freedoms from the American citizenry. But State
governors, legislators, and attorney generals who actually believe the
Constitution and who have the courage to defend it, now THAT scares
them to death! Why? Because they know that the real power in this country
rests with “We the People” who, through their state governments,
have the ability to actually stop their quest for globalism and feudalism.

America’s
Founding Fathers clearly understood that the states are the ultimate
guardians of the peoples’ liberties. James Madison (and even Alexander
Hamilton) spoke to this eloquently in the Federalist Papers.

In
Federalist #46, Madison said, “Were it admitted, however, that
the Federal government may fell an equal disposition with the State
governments to extend its power beyond the due limits, the [states]
would still have the advantage in the means of DEFEATING SUCH ENCROACHMENTS”
(emphasis added). By “defeating such encroachments,” Madison
included “opposition,” “refusal to cooperate,”
“frowns of the [State] executive,” “obstructions,”
and “plans of resistance.”

Advertisement

Did
you see that? America’s fourth President and Father of the Constitution
said that it was the duty of the states to obstruct, oppose, resist,
and otherwise refuse to cooperate with any federal policy or mandate
that runs counter to the principles of liberty. And, remember, this
is from the man who authored the so-called “supremacy clause”
of the US Constitution!

In
Federalist #45, Madison said, “Thus, each of the principal branches
of the federal government will owe its existence more or less to the
favor of the State governments, and must consequently feel a dependence,
which is much more likely to beget a disposition too obsequious than
too overbearing towards them. On the other side, the component parts
of the State governments will in no instance be indebted for their appointment
to the direct agency of the federal government, and very little, if
at all, to the local influence of its members.”

Did
you get that? In the mind of America’s founders, the federal government
would be dependent upon the State governments, not the other way around!
But what do we hear today? Even these so-called “conservative”
politicos and talking heads say just the opposite. They keep insisting
that the states are dependent upon, and subservient to, the federal
government.

Even
the colonists’ biggest proponent of central government, Alexander
Hamilton, had it right on the power of the states to resist federal
encroachment. In Federalist #26, Hamilton said, “Independent of
… the national legislature itself … the State legislatures,
who will always be not only vigilant but suspicious and jealous guardians
of the rights of the citizens against encroachments from the federal
government, will constantly have their attention awake to the conduct
of the national rulers, and will be ready enough, if any thing improper
appears, to sound the alarm to the people, and not only to be the voice,
but, if necessary, the arm of their discontent.”

Wow!
Did you catch that? Hamilton said that the states held the right and
duty to resist federal encroachment with their “voice” and
with their “arm.”

Does
any of this sound like America’s Founding Fathers expected the
states to be lap dogs for federal usurpation of power? They fully recognized
that it would take the individual states standing against any potential
federal overreach to protect and secure the rights and liberties of
the American people.

I
will say it again: it is far more important who is elected as your governor
than who is elected President. It is far more important who is elected
as your State attorney general than who is appointed US attorney general.
It is far more important who is elected to your State legislature than
who is elected to the US House and Senate. It is far more important
who is elected as your sheriff than who is appointed as the Director
of the FBI. But if all you watch is FOX News, CNN, NBC, CBS, and ABC,
you will be mesmerized with national politics, and you will forget about
that which is the most important defender of our liberties: our individual
state governments. In fact, in many cases today, our State and local
governments are as abusive of our liberties as is the federal government.
This is mainly due to the inattention and misunderstanding of the People
as to the importance of electing local and State leaders who will accept,
as their first responsibility, the maintenance of liberty for the people
they represent. And by nature, that means being a faithful watchdog
to the incursions of the federal government against our freedoms.

It
is encouraging to read that at least ten states are pushing back against
the monstrously unconstitutional NDAA. If all fifty states would act
as courageously as these tenacious ten--and not just against the NDAA,
but also against EVERY assault of the federal government against our
liberties--America could be restored to the “land of the free”
very quickly. As it is, however, the protectors and guardians of our
liberties (our State leaders and county sheriffs) are being bribed,
coerced, cajoled, harangued, and intimidated into cowardly submission
by these belligerent bullies in Washington, D.C.

Subscribe
to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts!

Enter
Your E-Mail Address:

Thank
you Representative Daniel P. Gordon, Jr. of Rhode Island. Thank you
Delegate Bob Marshall of Virginia. Thank you to all of you State legislators,
State senators, and county sheriffs across our great land who truly
understand the oath you took to the Constitution and who are willing
to stand as the watchdogs of our liberties. It is a truism that if your
tribe does not increase, our freedoms are surely lost.

*If
you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial
opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit
card, check, or Money Order. Use
this link.

Chuck
Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and pastor
dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America was
founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party.
He and his wife, Connie, have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. Chuck and
his family reside in the Flathead Valley of Montana. See
Chuck's complete bio here.